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Indra's net: defending Hinduism's philosophical unity

Publisher: NoidaHarper Collins2014Description: xix, 376 p.ISBN: 9789351771791.Subject(s): Philosophy, Indic | Vedas - Atharvaveda | Hinduism - DoctrinesDDC classification: 294.52 Summary: It is fashionable among intellectuals to assert that dharma traditions lacked any semblance of unity before the British period, and that the contours of contemporary Hinduism were bequeathed to us by our colonial masters. Such arguments routinely target Swami Vivekananda, a key interlocutor who shattered many deeply rooted prejudices against Indian civilization. They accuse him of having camouflaged various alleged 'contradictions' within traditional Hinduism, and charge him with having appropriated the principles of Western religion to 'manufacture' a unified world view and a set of practices known today as Hinduism. Rajiv Malhotra offers a systematic rejoinder to such views and articulates the holographic understanding of reality that grounds Hindu dharma.

It is fashionable among intellectuals to assert that dharma traditions lacked any semblance of unity before the British period, and that the contours of contemporary Hinduism were bequeathed to us by our colonial masters. Such arguments routinely target Swami Vivekananda, a key interlocutor who shattered many deeply rooted prejudices against Indian civilization. They accuse him of having camouflaged various alleged 'contradictions' within traditional Hinduism, and charge him with having appropriated the principles of Western religion to 'manufacture' a unified world view and a set of practices known today as Hinduism. Rajiv Malhotra offers a systematic rejoinder to such views and articulates the holographic understanding of reality that grounds Hindu dharma.